PamKirsch2959552 at 10:22, 3 January 2026

2026-01-03T10:22:41Z

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{{Short description|Ethnocentric perspective about India}}
'''Indocentrism''' is any [[ethnocentric]]<ref name=ppt>{{cite book|last=Persram|first=Nalini |title=Postcolonialism and political theory|publisher=Lexington Books|date=2007|pages=201|isbn=978-0-7391-1667-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7nkEY1vK5QQC&pg=PA201&dq=%22Indocentrism%22&cd=22#q=%22Indocentrism%22|accessdate=January 17, 2010}}</ref> perspective that regards [[India]] to be central or unique relative to other countries and holds that the "host" culture i.e. of India, is superior to others.<ref name=ppt/>

== Viewpoint ==
According to [[Indology|Indologist]] [[Michael Witzel]],<ref>{{Citation |last=Witzel |first=Michael |title=Indocentrism: autochthonous visions of ancient India |date=2004-08-02 |work=The Indo-Aryan Controversy |pages=353–416 |editor-last=Bryant |editor-first=Edwin |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781135791025/chapters/10.4324/9780203641880-19 |access-date=2024-10-05 |edition=0 |publisher=Routledge |language=en |doi=10.4324/9780203641880-19 |isbn=978-0-203-64188-0 |editor2-last=Patton |editor2-first=Laurie|url-access=subscription }}</ref> there is a recent tendency of indigenously minded [[historical revisionism]] and rewriting of India's history and archaeology in scholarly publications, media, the Internet and government publications. This Indocentric rewriting includes claims that the first [[civilization|human civilization]] in the world formed in India in c. 10,000 BC, that there is an uninterrupted continuity of the Indian civilization from 7500 BC to present, and that [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] speaking [[Aryan]] people populated by the immigrant people from the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]].<ref name=mw>{{cite book|last=Fagan|first=Garrett G.|title=Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public|publisher=Routledge|date=2006|chapter=Rama's realm: Indocentric rewritings of early South Asian archaeology and history|page=203|isbn=978-0-415-30592-1 |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/19380740}}</ref>

According to Science Historian [[Meera Nanda]], Indocentrism is a concept in Indian historiography of science, akin to [[Eurocentrism]], that asserts India as the originator of significant scientific contributions. It often assumes that if an idea appears in [[India]] and elsewhere concurrently, it must have originated in India. This approach has hindered recognition of potential influences from other regions, such as the [[Southeast Asia|South-East Asian]] transmission of [[Chinese numerals]], challenging the conventional narrative of India as the exclusive source of mathematical innovations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-31 |title=Hindutva’s science envy |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/science-and-technology/hindutvas-science-envy/article9049883.ece |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=Frontline |language=en}}</ref>

Numerous indocentric assertions regarding the [[Fibonacci series|Fibonacci sequence]] and the "golden ratio" in mathematics oversimplify the subject's historical context. Nowadays, there is a proliferation of articles and social media posts connecting the Fibonacci series and the [[golden ratio]] to Indian culture. Such indocentric claims tend to exaggerate their assertions, often neglecting to acknowledge the original innovators who deserve due credit in the field of mathematics.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sooraj |date=2021-12-14 |title=What Fibonacci, and Ancient Indian Scholars, Didn’t Know About the Golden Ratio – The Wire Science |url=https://science.thewire.in/society/history/fibonacci-series-golden-ratio-ancient-indian-scholars/ |access-date=2023-10-23 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

According to Bengali [[anthropologist]] Sayeed Ferdous, Partition Studies have made significant progress in exploring the multifaceted impact of the 1947 [[Partition of India]] on people's lives and collective consciousness. However, the field exhibits a tendency towards Indocentrism, where Indian experiences dominate the narrative, overshadowing other perspectives.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rob |first=Ramisa |date=2023-10-23 |title=Is there a prospect of peace under Netanyahu’s extremist government? |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/geopolitical-insights/news/there-prospect-peace-under-netanyahus-extremist-government-3450986 |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=The Daily Star |language=en}}</ref> The nationalization of nostalgia post-Partition reshaped identities within nationalist contexts, making India a regional superpower. An "indocentric" approach dominated Partition studies, often overlooking perspectives outside of India. To gain a more comprehensive understanding, it's crucial to consider the broader regional impact and relationships between India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Huq |first=Maliha |date=2022-08-25 |title=‘The danger in telling a single Partition story is that it completely erases the individual’ |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/daily-star-books/news/the-danger-telling-single-partition-story-it-completely-erases-the-individual-3102856 |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=The Daily Star |language=en}}</ref>

==Responses of other countries==
{{Expand section|date=January 2020}}

===Sri Lanka===
Much of [[Sri Lanka]]'s early history has been described as having an Indocentric bias.<ref name="Source1">{{cite book|last1=Mendis|first1=V.L.B|title=Foreign Relations of Sri Lanka: Earliest Times to 1965|date=1985|pages=113–14|publisher=Tisara Prakasakayo}}</ref> This Indocentric bias in understanding Sri Lankan history led to a trend of Sri Lankan historians breaking away from the Indocentric bias in Sri Lankan history and instead focusing on Sri Lanka's historical and cultural links with [[Southeast Asia]], which the country had close ties to.<ref name="Source1"/> One of the most famous historians to break the Indocentric view of Sri Lankan history was [[Senarath Paranavithana]] who focused on Sri Lanka's connection with the [[Malay Peninsula]] and the rest of the [[Malay Archipelago]].<ref name="Source1"/><ref name="Source2">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CdUUAAAAIAAJ |title = Sri Lanka and South-East Asia: Political, Religious and Cultural Relations from A.D. C. 1000 to C. 1500|isbn = 9004056602|last1 = Sirisena|first1 = W. M. |pages=4–6 |date = January 1978}}</ref> He established the "Malaya theory", claiming Sri Lanka's history with Kalinga was with the [[Kalingga Kingdom]] of [[Central Java]], [[Indonesia]] and not with the [[Kalinga (historical region)|Kalinga]] kingdom of [[East India|eastern India]].<ref name="Source1"/><ref name="Source2"/>

'''China'''

China is wary of "Indo-centrism", especially in relation to border disputes and strategic alliances. China recognises India's influence in South Asia, but does not regard it as a peer global rival. China is primarily focused on India's cooperation with the United States as a possible regional containment move, particularly its "Act East" policy in the Indo-Pacific. On the border issue, China prefers to separate it from the broader bilateral relationship through dialogue in order to keep the situation stable and avoid military conflict. At the same time, China attaches more importance to economic cooperation to facilitate the development of bilateral relations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-04-01 |title=China-India Relations: How Different Perceptions Shape the Future |url=https://www.isas.nus.edu.sg/papers/china-india-relations-how-different-perceptions-shape-the-future/}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Asiacentrism]]
*[[Greater India]]
*[[Indian exceptionalism]]
*[[Indian nationalism]]
*[[Indianisation]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Ethnocentrism}}

[[Category:Geocultural perspectives]]
[[Category:Ethnocentrism]]
[[Category:Asiacentrism]]
[[Category:Society of India]]
[[Category:Indosphere]]

Indocentrism - Revision history

PamKirsch2959552 at 10:22, 3 January 2026